5. Get legal help
Question & Answer
I’m an older adult. How do I know if I’m being financially abused?You might want to talk to a lawyer about your options, and what's best for you and your situation.
For example, a lawyer can help you decide if:
- you're a victim of a crime
- you need to sue someone who took money from you
The Advocacy Centre for the Elderly gives free legal advice or legal referrals to people who are over 60 and have a low income. Call 1-855-598-2656 or 416-598-2656. If they can't help you, they can refer you to your local community legal clinic.
Community legal clinics across Ontario give free legal services to people with low incomes. Clinics help people with legal problems, like social assistance and housing. If your local clinic can't help you, they may be able to refer you to someone in your community who can.
You can find the contact information for your clinic by entering your postal code into this look-up tool.
Legal Aid Ontario gives free legal advice to people with low incomes. They also give people of all income levels up to 20 minutes of free legal advice.
Contact Legal Aid Ontario at 1-800-668-8258 or through Bell Relay Service at 1-800-855-0511.
The Law Society of Ontario has an online Law Society Referral Service. This service can help you find a lawyer or paralegal in your area who can give you free advice for up to 30 minutes.
The Law Society also has a directory of all lawyers and paralegals licensed to practise law in Ontario. You can search the directory by name, address or postal code, language, or area of law.
The Ontario Legal Information Centre can give you a free 30 minutes with a lawyer over the telephone. Call 1-844-343-7462 to speak with a lawyer, in English or French, about any area of law. You may have to leave a message and a lawyer will call you back.
Pro Bono Ontario's hotline can give you 30 minutes of free legal help and advice over the telephone on civil law matters, which include employment, housing, consumer issues, and Powers of Attorney. They don't deal with family law or criminal law problems. Call 1-855-255-7256.
To learn more about resources to help prevent , fill out the Responding to Elder Abuse Guided Pathway.
